Maruti Suzuki puts Gujarat plan in fast lane

Eschewing doubts of Maruti keeping its Gujarat plans on hold, the company sped up its journey from Hamamatsu to Hansalpur via Haryana.

AHMEDABAD: Eschewing doubts of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) keeping its Gujarat plans on hold, the company sped up its journey from Hamamatsu to Hansalpur via Haryana. Sources suggest that the company decided to change gear after its board approved fast-tracking the Gujarat plant, where the company will invest close to Rs 4,000 crore.

Chief minister Narendra Modi too, during his Japan visit, pitched scaling up capacity at the Gujarat plant and putting the project on the fast track, to the top brass of Suzuki Motor Corp.

In August this year, MSIL paid the first installment of Rs 22 crore for the 640 acres of land allotted to them at Hansalpur in Ahmedabad. The land has been allotted at Rs 673 per square metre and payment will be made in eight installments totaling around Rs 175 crore.

MSIL has already awarded a contract for building the outer wall of the earmarked area for the plant with an annual capacity of 2.5 lakh cars. "To start with we are working on the boundary wall with L&T. Details of the project are still being worked out," said M M Singh, chief operating officer (production), MSIL. When contacted, L&T officials refused to divulge details of the contract.

Chief operating officer (administration) S Y Siddiqui on Wednesday said the company will start constructing the plant next year. Earlier, senior MSIL officials, including chairman R C Bhargava, suggested that looking at the market conditions, the plant would not begin operations before 2016.

Company sources said the MSIL board is mulling rolling out its all new diesel engines from Gujarat. "Work to develop a small two-cylinder 800cc diesel engine is underway in Japan. Once the development is completed, there the project will come to India. The MSIL board is yet to decide on whether they will begin commercial production of the engine from the new facility or the one at Manesar," said a source.